Swedish Cardamom Buns

Bake #6 for 2025: Swedish Cardamom Buns by Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street

I’ve had Swedish Cardamom Buns or “kardemummabullar” on my baking radar ever since sweet Henry made them in the Bake Off tent in series 10. I was particularly fascinated by how the buns are formed, which involves twisting a semi-laminated strip of dough, then wrapping it around several fingers into a sort of knot. When I recently came across a recipe for them in the new Milk Street Bakes cookbook, I knew it was time to finally try them out. They take some time, but wow, was it worth it! They are absolutely delicious and so pretty as well. Definitely saving this one for future repeat baking.

This recipe, along with many others, is available on Milk Street's website with a paid membership. An abbreviated recipe is below:

Ingredients: (makes 16 buns)

For the dough:

• 390g (3 cups) all-purpose flour
• 103g (3/4 cup) bread flour
• 80g (6 Tbsp) white sugar
• 1 Tbsp instant yeast
• 1 tsp cardamom seeds, ground (see notes)
• 3/4 tsp table salt
• 284g (1-1/4 cups) whole milk, warmed to 100F
• 113g (8 Tbsp) unsalted butter, melted & cooled
• 1 large egg, separated with white reserved in the fridge

For the filling:

• 170g (12 Tbsp) salted butter, room temp
• 163g (3/4 cup) packed light brown sugar
• 2 tsp cardamom seeds, ground (see notes)

plus 2 Tbsp white sugar or sanding sugar, for topping

 

Instructions:

1. Don’t overheat the milk and ensure the butter has cooled after melting. The kneading time warms up the dough so ensuring neither ingredient is too warm helps to keep the dough from overheating.
2. In a stand mixer with a dough hook, combine the flours, sugar, yeast, and salt on low for 30 seconds. In a liquid measuring cup or small bowl, combine the milk and butter. With the mixer running on low, slowly add the liquids to the dry, followed by the egg yolk. Mix on low until the ingredients come together to form a sticky dough, 2-3 min.
3. Increase the mixer to medium-low and knead for 20 min. The dough should be smooth and elastic, coming cleanly away from the sides of the bowl.
4. Mist a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray, then press the kneaded dough evenly into the bottom of the dish. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise at room temp 1 hour. Transfer to the refrigerator and chill for 2 hours, up to 24 hr.
5. When you’re ready to continue, make the filling by mashing the butter, brown sugar, and cardamom together in a medium bowl until evenly mixed and smooth. Line two rimmed baking sheets with parchment, set aside.
6. On a lightly floured counter, turn out the chilled dough and roll into a 12x16 rectangle of even thickness. Spread the filling in an even layer across the dough, all the way to the edges. Then, fold the top third of the dough down onto itself and the bottom third up. Rotate the dough so a short side is nearest you and roll again into a 12x16 rectangle of even thickness.
7. Rotate to ensure a long side is parallel with the counter’s edge. Trim the short sides to a clean straight edge with a knife, then slice the dough into 16 even strips.
8. Working on strip at a time, lengthen the piece to ~16” by gently tapping the dough on the counter while pulling. Using opposite motions, twist the strip until it forms a gentle spiral. Pinching one end between thumb and index finger, wrap the spiral around three fingers, bringing the end up through the bottom to form a knot. (This took a little improvising for me, but still looked great in the end. For a thorough visual walkthrough, check YouTube or Scandi Baking, whose recipe is probably excellent!)
9. Arrange the buns on the prepared sheets and lightly cover with a kitchen towel or plastic wrap. Let rise ~1 hour or until doubled in size. Preheat oven to 400F and brush the risen buns with the reserved egg white, then sprinkle with topping sugar.
10. Bake for 16-18 min or until golden brown. It is normal for some filling to leak out and caramelize on the sheet. Cool on the baking sheets then serve warm or at room temp. Buns will keep in an airtight container at room temp for 3 days.

Notes:

• Like most yeast (especially enriched-yeasted) doughs, this bake takes some time. For a first run-through, I’d suggest saving this for a weekend or as an overnight project.
• The headnote in the cookbook very specifically insists on “decorticated cardamom seeds” freshly ground in a mortar & pestle or spice grinder. It insists that this is “essential” for “flavor, aroma, and visual appeal.” While I appreciate that this is probably true, I don’t have a mortar & pestle or spice grinder, and specifically sourcing specialty ingredients when I have ground cardamom already in my drawer is not something I'm going to do, so I used what I had and they turned out great anyways.